Traditional Martin aesthetics to me would mean a matching ebony bridge and fretboard at least to me.

Given the new CITES issues I might even spring for an ebony headstock overlay. Martin will do this, I saw a custom 00-15M with ebony headstock overlay, bridge and fretboard that looked killer.

The reason for the rosewood bridge is tonal; it (supposedly) gives a more open, airy sound than ebony. So while it looks different to have it mismatched, Martin does this on a couple of models for tonal reasons (like the M-36 and some custom models based off of the J and M bodies, like Jorma Koukonen's signature guitar and the above mentioned Diane Ponzi signature). Then there are those guitars which have rosewood bridge and finger board standard, like the D-21, 00-21, etc (the 21 series rosewood b/s Martins).

I remember somewhere that Jean Larrivee said something about the tonal difference of rosewood finger board and bridge when Larrivee was using it on the 02 series for a brief season...

I remember somewhere that Jean Larrivee said something about the tonal difference of rosewood finger board and bridge when Larrivee was using it on the 02 series for a brief season...

My D-02 MH is all rosewood trim, fretboard, headstock overlay, bridge, heel and end. Recently I heard that they also had 40 series bracing. I do not know if it is the combination of Rosewood or the enhancement of 40 bracing, or both, but that little guitar absolutely resounds with tone and cast. I have two Gibsons with Rosewood fretboard and bridge, and they too sound loud and clear. Gibson bracing these days is pretty much the same as Martin, there must be something to it...

My D-02 MH is all rosewood trim, fretboard, headstock overlay, bridge, heel and end. Recently I heard that they also had 40 series bracing. I do not know if it is the combination of Rosewood or the enhancement of 40 bracing, or both, but that little guitar absolutely resounds with tone and cast. I have two Gibsons with Rosewood fretboard and bridge, and they too sound loud and clear. Gibson bracing these days is pretty much the same as Martin, there must be something to it...

You are correct MIke, it is volume projection forcefully thrown in a specific direction... It may not have been meant as a musical term, but it is the closest thing I could think of that represents what I attempted to describe...

Do you have photos of your guitars? Or something like sketch? It is very interesting to see them

If you're referring to the custom J-18, no - no pics yet; it's still being built. No sketches either...I envisioned the J-style body (which is Martin's 0000 size with dreadnought depth) with Martin D-18 cosmetics and the current D-18 neck, which I like (1 3/4" nut "modified low oval" shape). Those were my basic criteria.

To those specs I added two custom options that are different from normal:

1) a rosewood bridge (instead of ebony bridge with ebony fingerboard), which comes from their M-36 model and is said to have a slightly different, more open tone than an ebony bridge, and 2) an enlarged soundhole, which is said to give the guitar more volume and more pronounced mids - we'll see.

I'm really looking forward to comparing this J-18 to my Larrivee L-05 Custom, since they will have similar body sizes and woods (plus a few differences, obviously).